1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a host device, POD (point of deployment) and a method of identifying an operation mode. Although the present invention is suitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitable for using Internet.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Existing television (TV) services have been provided in such a manner that contents produced by broadcasting companies are transmitted through radio transmission media, such as terrestrial waves, cables or satellites, and a viewer watches the transmitted contents through a TV receiver capable of receiving the transmitted contents via the respective transmission media.
However, as digital TV technologies based on digital broadcasting are developed and are commercially available, breaking from existing analog broadcasting, various contents, such as real-time broadcasts, Contents on Demand (CoD), games and news, can be provided to a viewer using the Internet network connected to each home, besides the existing transmission media.
An example of the provision of contents using the Internet network may include an Internet Protocol TV (IPTV). The IPTV indicates a broadcast receiver for receiving various types of information services, moving-image contents and broadcasts using an Internet network and displaying them to a user. The Internet network can be implemented on the basis of various types of networks such as optical cable networks, coaxial cable networks, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), telephone networks and wireless networks.
The service using the Internet network additionally has bidirectionality and enables a viewer to watch a desired program at his/her convenient time, unlike general terrestrial broadcasting.